Battle 4
The Cathedral Catholic Crusade
vs. 
The second of three games I watched yesterday, the Dons from San Diego came from behind to win the Division II bowl game over a tenacious St. Mary's side. After this game concluded, this victory made the South 4 for 4 heading into the Open Division match.
From the San Diego Union Tribune and the Stockton Record.
Gaffney's 329 yards rushing, 5 TDs lead Dons
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER9:23 a.m. December 21, 2008CARSON – In Tyler, Cathedral trusts.Tyler Gaffney, the Dons' beyond-prolific running back, turned in a performance for the ages last night, leading Cathedral Catholic to a come-from-behind, 37-34 win over Stockton St. Mary's in the Division II State Championship Bowl at the Home Depot Center.
Gaffney rushed for 329 yards and five touchdowns – both state bowl game records – and he set the San Diego Section season rushing record with 2,866 yards.
“It's amazingly perfect – 14-0 this season. A (section Division III) championship. League champs. State champs. There's nothing more you can ask for as a senior,” Gaffney said.
It was a night for defense to take a back seat to the stars on offense. The teams combined for 1,051 yards and 44 first downs. While Gaffney thrilled on the ground, St. Mary's quarterback Cody Vaz was equally impressive in the air. He dissected the Cathedral secondary, completing 31-of-46 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns.
“That kid is unreal,” Cathedral coach Sean Doyle said of Vaz. “Luckily our guy was just as good as their guy was tonight because he kept bringing them back.”
It's the second time a San Diego Section team has won the Division II bowl game. Last year Oceanside defeated Novato 28-14.
Last night's back-and-forth contest featured one big play after another. Gaffney would break a long run, Vaz would convert a critical third-down pass. The Dons would score, the Rams would answer.
“I figured it would be an offensive shootout,” Gaffney said. “Our defense is good, but Vaz has been tearing it up.Advertisement“This means everything,” Gaffney said. “Any good team goes to (section). But it takes a real team to win state. That's what we wanted to come out and prove.”
Ultimately, it was an incomplete pass from Vaz on fourth down that turned the ball over to the Dons with 1:59 to play. Needing to convert a third down to run out the clock, Dons' quarterback Parker Hipp looked to – who else? – Gaffney. A 16-yard completion, followed by a victory formation kneel-down, and the win was secured.
“I've never been a part of anything that crazy,” Hipp said. “It's a storybook ending to a perfect season. I couldn't love my teammates any more than I do right now.”
Of the 10 plays that went for 20 yards or more, three came in a breathtaking, two-minute span in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 27-23, the Dons converted a fourth-and-9 at the Rams 32 when Hipp handed off to Gaffney, who passed to Hipp for a 31-yard gain. Gaffney walked in for a 1-yard score on the next play.
“We ran it twice (this season),” Hipp said. “But it never worked that perfectly. It was the perfect call by the coaches.”
On the ensuing kickoff, St. Mary's Chad West put the Rams back on top with a 96-yard touchdown return.
Two plays after the kickoff, Gaffney broke loose on a 51-yard touchdown run, putting the Dons ahead for good.
While it was a watershed night for Gaffney, the offensive line reveled in opening up holes for him.
“That was the best D-line we've seen,” Cathedral tackle Everett Benyard said. “We love the competition. That's what we dream of, a defensive line that comes in and thinks they can hang with us.”
St. Mary's coach Tony Franks, whose team finished 12-3, said Gaffney was as advertised.
“He lived up to the hype,” Franks said. “We weren't real familiar up in our neck of the woods with the kinds of things he'd accomplished this year. But we sure are now.”
Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com
St. Mary's brilliant in defeatSt. Mary's leaves it all on the field in Division II championship gameCARSON - St. Mary's will be remembered for playing in perhaps the best game in the three-year history of the CIF State Championship Bowl Games, but the Rams won't be remembered as Division II champions.
Cathedral Catholic running back Tyler Gaffney rushed for 329 yards on 33 carries with five touchdowns to lead the Dons to a dramatic 37-34 win over the Rams on Saturday in the Division II title game at the Home Depot Center.
St. Mary's, led by quarterback Cody Vaz and receiver Louie Lechich, stayed with Cathedral the entire game.
A potential game-winning drive ended when Vaz's fourth-and-3 pass to Louie Lechich from the Dons' 33-yard line fell incomplete with less than two minutes remaining.
"I knew it was going to come down to a few plays at the end of the game, and that's what happened," St. Mary's coach Tony Franks said. "Our kids are absolute, 100 percent champions. ... I couldn't be more proud of the team and the staff and the effort we put forth tonight."
Vaz finished with a bowl-record 336 yards on 31-of-46 passing with four touchdown passes. Lechich, who had 157 yards receiving and two touchdowns, set a new bowl game record for catches with 15.
The teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense.
Cathedral Catholic set a bowl game record with 590 yards, and St. Mary's had 451, 125 rushing and 326 passing.
St. Mary's took its first lead, 27-23, with 9:38 remaining when Vaz connected with Alex Michaels for the second time.
Cathedral Catholic countered with an eight-play, 70-yard drive that Gaffney capped with a 1-yard touchdown run, his fourth, putting the Dons in front, 30-27.
The Rams took the lead right back when Chad West returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.
But Gaffney gave the Dons the lead for good with a 51-yard touchdown run with 4:45 remaining.
Contact reporter Stephen Roberson at (209) 546-8272 or sroberson@recordnet.com.
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